


Bro, the rituals are intricate

by Ithdanis



Category: High Rollers DnD (Web Series)
Genre: Autistic Nova V'ger, Background Quillucius, Background Relationships, Canon Asexual Character, Courting Rituals, F/F, Fluff, Light Angst, Mild Hurt/Comfort, Misunderstandings, Mutual Pining, Slow Burn, Team Dynamics, Team as Family, aila is bad at emotions
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-30
Updated: 2020-10-20
Packaged: 2021-03-06 16:21:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,311
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26191852
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ithdanis/pseuds/Ithdanis
Summary: Aila doesn't know how to talk about her feelings, wild elves have complicated courtship rituals, and Nova is oblivious.(I'm sorry for how stupid the title is, I was going to be serious but this dumb title got stuck in my head.)
Relationships: Aila/Nova V'Ger, Lucius Virion-Elluin Elenasto & Fayeth, Qillek "Quill" Ad Khollar/Lucius Virion-Elluin Elenasto
Comments: 7
Kudos: 20





	1. A Realisation

**Author's Note:**

> I love Quillucius as much as the next guy, but I wanted to see some more of my sweet girls in this fandom. A lot of this fic is going to end up being the rest of the team messing around because I can't contain myself from writing their family dynamic.

Aila swung her bow from her back, inhaling deeply and holding the breath tightly as she knocked an arrow. The deer nibbled delicately at the grass, unaware of the threat upwind. With a sharp whistle from Aila, it’s head snapped up. It turned to run just as her arrow sailed through the air, hitting the animal in the neck with a thick thud. The deer staggered, hooves skidding on the dense forest floor before collapsing beneath it with a cry. The bow went back over her back in an effortless motion as she vaulted the thick root in front of her. Her borrowed dagger sunk easily into the deer’s neck, ceasing it’s struggle.

“Not your cleanest.” Kamara commented, slinking forward from where she’d been waiting.  
Aila rolled her eyes, “Yeah, yeah. I know, I hesitated.”  
Kamara snorted, “It’s a good one, the ship’ll appreciate the meat”  
“The leather’s mine.” Aila said, scooping the deer over her shoulder.  
“Well sure, it’s your kill.” Kamara laughed, slapping Aila on the back as she walked past. “Glad you came with us firebrand.”

Kamara dropped her catches on to a big pile of the catches of the rest of her pack, and beckoned Aila over. Aila dropped her deer beside the pile, and Kamara gave her a firm nod.

Two of the pack were placing stones in a circle around a patch of grass that had been scraped clean, and others were gathering tinder and logs.  
“Help with that, would you?” Kamara asked, not looking up for confirmation as she made her way towards the makeshift fire pit.  
Aila rolled her eyes at the easy way Kamara ordered her around, but she understood she was a guest here now, not an officer above them. She walked beside a younger wolfpack lad and helped him scoop up a large amount of wood. By the time she returned the first sparks of fire were burning in the pit, and with the wood she was bringing they soon had a blazing bonfire.

A large spit was set above the fire, and some of the day’s catches cleaned and spiked over the flame. Aila watched as the pack moved seamlessly together, and felt a pang of longing in her. She looked away, her hand falling to her tartan. Her eyes caught with Fayeth, who smiled at Aila brightly.

Fayeth waved her over and Aila obliged, sitting beside her.  
“Was that deer yours?” She asked. Aila grunted in confirmation and Fayeth smiled, “Nice catch.”  
Aila rolled her eyes, “It was a pretty awful catch.” She said gruffly  
“Does it matter how bad the catch was if you caught it?” Fayeth asked, passing her her share of the night’s meal.  
Aila paused as she took the bowl, and raised an eyebrow. “Yes?”  
“I mean, you got the deer.” Fayeth laughed, taking a surprisingly delicate bite of her food.  
“If I’d caught it better I could have got more.” Aila said around a far less delicate mouthful of food.  
“Yeah, but you didn’t.” Fayeth smiled, “But you did get a deer, it doesn’t matter what else you didn’t get.”  
“I guess.” Aila said, shifting awkwardly. 

Aila glanced up at the airship hovering far above them. The Stormchaser was hard to pick out in the dark of night, with only the faint light of the cradle to illuminate it’s outline. The fire was blazing near them, filling the forest with the soft scent of woodsmoke. It was strangely comforting, being with the wolfpack. Across the fire from her two of the boys were scuffling over a pitcher of ale, besides her Fayeth was finishing her meal, content to sit in silence with her. She felt like an outsider, of course, but that was nothing new. It felt almost like being with the clan that raised her, comforting but still subtly wrong.

She supposed the family she was looking for were still up there on their ship. They were probably asleep by now.   
Well, Nova was probably going to stay up all night in the engine room with no one there to tell her to go to sleep. Aila found a fond smile forcing its way onto her face, and looked away from the ship, dragging her eyes back to the ground.

 _”Nova, if you’re still up, put your ass to bed.” Aila said dryly over the messenger ring.  
_ _“What?” Nova’s voice came back, “It’s barely even night.”  
_ _“It’s been night for ages, go to sleep.”  
_ _“Yes mum.” Nova teased_

Aila rolled her eyes with a soft laugh. Fayeth was looking at her curiously.  
“Messenger ring?” She asked, “Is Lucius still up?”  
“I don’t think so.” Aila said, dropping her bowl and stretching. “I was telling Nova to go to sleep.”  
Fayeth laughed, “That’s sweet, you two are very cute.”  
Aila choked on a mouthful of ale and Fayeth pounded on her back as she coughed.   
“I’m sorry?” Aila asked, after she composed herself.  
“I think you’re a very cute couple?” Fayeth said, almost questioningly.  
“We’re-” Aila coughed again, “We’re not a couple.” The tips of her ears were blazing red.  
“Oh! Oh I’m so sorry, I’m not very good at reading these kinds of things!” Fayeth babbled, her ears pinning back.  
“It’s fine.” Aila waved off her concerns, “Don’t worry about it.”  
Fayeth still looked chagrined, so Aila gave her an awkward pat on the shoulder.  
“I’m just gonna, uh, skin this deer.” Aila said gruffly, standing up and quickly excusing herself from the conversation.

Aila’s knife slid easily through the thick pelt of the deer as she thought. Fayeth was obviously being ridiculous, right? Why on Aerois would she think that Aila was interested in Nova? Sure, Aila remembered to make sure she was asleep, but if she didn’t Nova would never sleep. And sure, Nova was cute but-   
Wait a minute.   
Aila’s knife stuttered in the deer, ripping the leather more roughly than she had intended. Since when did she think Nova was cute? She looked down at the deer she was holding bewilderedly. She wasn’t in the habit of thinking too hard about what she was doing, it tended to stress her, but now she had to take a moment to reflect. Why did she even want the pelt of this stupid thing?

For a moment, she skinned the deer in stiff silence, her brow furrowed. She pulled the skin loose, and handed the carcass over to a member of the wolfpack. Staring at the soft pelt of this deer, something clicked in her mind. She… She wanted to make a cloak. Her face felt hot suddenly, and confusion bubbled up in her. She hadn’t realised she was attracted to Nova until minutes ago, and now the realisation that she wanted to make this was a bit too much.  
A cloak. It sounded incredibly simple, but for a wild elf was a lot more complicated. Wild elves followed a strict courtship ritual, designed to show your skills as a hunter, gatherer, craftsmen, and other skills wild elves valued. The first step was a cloak entirely from creatures you’d hunted yourself. It was a step designed to show your ability as a hunter, as well as your ability to make use of the parts of your kill.  
She blinked softly, looking at the pelt. She wanted to make Nova a cloak. She could feel her ears blazing. Well, if this was something she wanted to do, this pelt wouldn’t do. She’d torn it in her confusion, and anything for Nova would have to be better than this. She would use this one to practice, and then with a better pelt make Nova something _perfect_. Aila bundled up the pelt, and tucked it into her pack with far more force than the poor thing deserved.

* * *

Aila adjusted her pack on her shoulder, looking up as the airship began to descend. The wolfpack were milling around, packing up their hunts and cleaning up after their camp. She could see Kamarra ordering them around, snapping at one of the boys who was goofing around with a pile of pelts. His ears and tail drooped, and he began folding them seriously. Fayeth was helping tie pelts together so they were easier to hold, and some of the other boys were cleaning up after the fire pit they’d made the night before.

The gangplank lowered, and Aila trailed after the wolfpack back onto the ship. Quill was walking past as she boarded the ship and smiled at her.   
_”Aila’s back everyone.” Quill said in the messenger ring._  
“Aila!” He said, waving her over.  
“Hmm?” Aila grunted  
“Nova told me to tell her when you were back, so prepare yourself to be tackled.” Quill laughed.  
Aila laughed awkwardly, and Quill furrowed his brow in confusion.  
“Are you alright Aila?” He asked  
“Fine.” She said, turning and walking away.  
“Okay,” Quill called out after her, “Bye?”

Aila made her way towards the lower decks, as she made it to the stairs she heard a voice call out.  
“Aila!”  
She looked up, and found a smile pushing its way onto her face as she saw Nova running up the stairs towards her. The small genasi threw herself at her, and Aila caught her in her arms without thinking.  
“Yes, Nova, hi.” Aila said gruffly, lowering her back to the ground as Nova wrapped her in a tight hug.  
“I missed you.” Nova said brightly, letting go and stepping back with a big smile.  
Aila rolled her eyes, “I was gone for two days.”  
“Yeah, well…” Nova laughed, and nudged her “I still missed you! It was weird not having you around.”  
Aila hadn’t noticed how often Nova touched her before, and she was suddenly hyper aware of it, a heat spread across her ears and she knew the tips were probably turning red.  
“I need to put my pack away.” She said awkwardly.  
Nova nodded at her and smiled, “Okay, I’ll see you later.” the genasi said, making her way back towards the engine room.

Aila stood, somewhat dumbstruck, on the deck for a moment. She could feel eyes on her, and looked around to see Fayeth looking at her with her head tilted to one side, confusion open on her face. Aila narrowed her eyes, and quickly made her way to her quarters.

* * *

  
Nova hummed softly to herself as she checked the levels of the engine. She pulled her stool out from under the desk in the corner, and dropped it in front of the secondary engine. She scurried up to check the dial on the top.  
“Hmm… That’s not great.” She muttered, making a note.  
“Nova-”   
“Wah!” Nova gasped, stumbling backwards off her stool. She looked up from the floor at Quill’s concerned face, tinted yellow and expanded by her goggles.  
“Sorry to startle you.” He said, but she could see his smile and hear the laugh he was holding back in his tone.  
“No you’re not.” she grumbled, shoving her goggles into her hair, smearing soot and oil across her face from her forearm.  
Quill snorted softly, before speaking “I wanted to ask if you noticed anything up with Aila?”  
“Quill, you _know_ I’m awful at reading people.” Nova said, looking up at him from where she was still lying on the ground. “Is she okay?”  
“I don’t know…” Quill said, putting his clawed hand to his beak in concern. “She just seemed… Off. I mean, I’m supposed to be really good at reading people but I’ve got no idea what’s up with her.”  
Nova raised an eyebrow at him, “Not that I don’t appreciate the talk, but why are you telling _me_ this? Isn’t this Sentry’s literal job?”  
“Well, yes, but you spend the most time with Aila and-” Quill paused, and seemed to finally register the ridiculousness of the situation. “Nova can you _please_ get off of the floor.”

Nova stood from the floor, dusting herself off.  
“Happy now?” She huffed.  
“Yes, very, thank you.” Quill said  
“So, run me through what happened with Aila?” Nova asked, picking up her stool and moving it back under her desk.  
Quill began to explain,“I said hello to her when she was back on the ship, told her to expect a tackle hug-” Nova snickered “She was already being kind of weird, she was walking at the back like she was thinking.”  
“Yes Quill, Aila thinking is very strange.” Nova said dryly.  
“That’s not what I meant!” He squawked, “I meant it was weird to see her so contemplative!”  
Nova laughed, “I know, I know. You’re only capable of being a rude bird to me.”  
“I’m not rude to you.” Quill rolled his eyes.  
“You absolutely are!” Nova giggled, poking him in his fluffy bird chest.

Quill batted her hand away, “I was trying to talk to you about Aila! Stop distracting me.”  
“Right, yes, Aila.” Nova said, “What about her?”  
“She just seems weird!” Quill flapped his wing in frustration.  
“She ‘seems weird’? What does that even mean?!” Nova grumbled  
“I- I don’t know! I honestly have no idea why we’re having this conversation!” Quill said, “You’re right and I should have told Sentry, and I’m gonna go and do that now, bye!”  
“Bye?” Nova said in a bewildered tone, as Quill turned to leave.

Nova watched him for a moment, before picking up her notepad with a sigh. She thumbed to the back page and underneath “ _Are Quill and Lucius dating yet?”_ she wrote _“Aila apparently acting weird? Quill definitely acting weird.”_

* * *

Lucius was gently towelling his hair after a bath. He was putting out the last lavender-scented candle as a knock tapped on his door.

“Yes?” He called out.  
“Only me.” Fayeth’s voice carried through the wood easily.   
Lucius smiled, “Come in.” he called, turning to the door.  
Fayeth scooted in around the door, and gave Lucius a gentle smile, perching on the edge of his bed. The bed was covered in colourful silks and pillows, with four posts and a canopy. She grabbed her favourite pillow from the collection at the top, and hugged it against her. It was a soft cotton in a baby blue, with a few small tassels. Lucius wasn’t particularly fond of it, but he kept it around because Fayeth enjoyed it.

“I’ll be with you in a moment.” Lucius said, “I just need to finish my hair.”  
Fayeth nodded, and watched quietly as he put his hair up in a delicate braid.  
“That’s new.” She said  
“Yes! Aila showed me how she puts hers up and I thought I would give it a try.” Lucius said, sitting beside her. “Did you have something you wanted to ask me, or are you just here to talk?”

“Actually, I wanted to ask you something about Aila.” Fayeth said, nervously fiddling with one of the pillow’s tassels.  
Lucius raised an eyebrow, “About Aila?”  
“Yes, well...” Fayeth fidgeted, “I had a conversation with her whilst we were out hunting and she said something that confused me, and then when we got back she did something that confused me even more.”  
“Could you be more specific?” Lucius asked, confusion evident on his face.  
“I thought Aila and Nova were dating?” Fayeth said.   
“What?” Lucius asked, half-shouting “Aila and Nova are dating?!”   
Fayeth shushed him, putting her hand above her head, and slowly lowering it down.

“Aila and Nova are dating?” Lucius tried again, in a much quieter voice.  
“I thought so, but apparently they aren’t! Aila seemed really confused that I’d even suggest it, but she’s always talking to Nova, and she used the messenger ring to make sure she was sleeping properly. And the first thing she did when she was back on the ship was hug Nova and then when they were talking she was blushing!” Fayeth babbled  
“Aila was blushing?” Lucius said, “I don’t think I’ve ever seen Aila blush.”  
“I just don’t understand!” Fayeth whined, her ears pinned back in frustration. “All of this is so confusing.”  
Lucius patted her sympathetically on the back, “I don’t really know what’s happening either.” he admitted, “I can ask Nova if that would make you feel better?”  
“Yes, that might help.” Fayeth mused softly. “Nova is much easier to get a straight answer out of.”  
“You’d be better off asking anyone other than Nova if you were looking for a straight answer.” Lucius said.  
Fayeth snorted, and she leant backwards on her hands. She went quiet for a moment as she thought.

Fayeth’s eyes went wide suddenly, “Maybe Aila doesn’t think they’re dating but Nova does, wouldn’t that be dreadful!”  
“Oh that would be dreadful!” Lucius gasped, “I absolutely must ask Nova, I’ll do that right away.”   
Fayeth grabbed the back of his pyjama shirt as he went to stand, “Maybe ask her in the morning.” she said, laughing.  
“Oh yes, you’re right. That was dreadfully silly of me.” Lucius said, sitting back down.

Fayeth stretched as she stood, “I’m going now, please tell me if you find anything out.” She said, leaning down to give Lucius a hug.  
Lucius patted her on the back with a small smile, “Yes, yes, I’ll let you know. I am dreadfully curious now.”


	2. Engine Room Blues

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lucius follows up on Fayeth's questioning, much to Nova's confusion.

Lucius knocked daintily on the door to Nova’s room. There was no response for a moment so he knocked harder. A series of muffled thumps came from behind the door, then it swung open revealing a very disheveled looking Nova, still in her pyjamas.  
“Good morning.” Lucius said, raising an eyebrow  
“Wha?” Nova mumbled, rubbing sleep from her eyes, and running her hands through her absolute mess of bed hair. “Is there a problem with the engine?”  
“No, I just wanted to ask you something.” Lucius said, “Can I come in?”  
Nova yawned loudly, “Can I get dressed first?”  
“Oh! Yes. I’ll just… Wait here.” Lucius said, awkwardly stepping back so Nova could close the door.

A moment passed, and Nova reopened the door in her usual clothes, with her hair marginally more under control. She waved him in, and sat down on her unmade bed. Lucius took a moment to look at the chaos around him, taking in the pile of loose parchment, quills, and notebooks all over her desk.  
“You really need to tidy.” He commented, perching on the edge of the desk.  
“Is that why you’re here?” Nova asked, “It’s so early. You woke me up for this?”  
Lucius blinked at her incredulously, “Nova it’s almost noon.”  
“Is it?” Nova yawned again, “I’m sorry, I should be in the engine room.”

Lucius tilted his head to the side, looking over her with concern. “Why are you so tired?”  
Nova furrowed her brow, “I don’t know. I guess I didn’t get to sleep well?”  
“When did you sleep?” Lucius asked  
Nova considered for a moment, “Ohhhhh.” She said, snapping her fingers. “I lost track of time in the engine room again.”  
“Huh.” Lucius said, “Doesn’t Aila normally tell you to go to sleep?”  
Nova laughed, “She’s not my mom Lucius, I can put myself to bed.”  
“Are you two fighting?” Lucius asked.  
“No?” Nova said, furrowing her brow, “At least, I don’t think we are. Quill said she was acting weird…” Nova glanced up, looking nervous, “Do you think I’ve upset her?”  
“I’m sure you haven’t done anything Nova.” Lucius said soothingly, “Aila probably isn’t even upset, I’m sure it isn’t worth worrying about.”  
“Yeah…” Nova said, but she still looked pensive.

“Anyway!” Lucius clapped, “I had something I wanted to ask you.”  
“Oh, yeah, go ahead.” Nova said, swinging her legs.  
Lucius paused for a second, his brow furrowing in deep concentration, considering how he was going to phrase this question. “Are you and Aila…” He made a very vague hand gesture.  
Nova blinked. “Are we what?”  
“You know…” He made the gesture again, bigger this time, but just as abstract.  
Nova mimicked the gesture with a very confused look on her face. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

Lucius blushed, “Uh, well…” He stuttered, “Fayeth asked me… To ask you…”  
Nova waited whilst he stumbled through his words, fidgeting on her bed. “Why didn’t Fayeth ask me?”  
Lucius squirmed, “Are you dating Aila?!” He blurted out, his face turning pink.  
“Wha-” Nova made a startled noise, “I wish!”

“Why on Aerois does Fayeth think me and Aila are dating?” Nova asked.  
“You want to be dating Aila?!” Lucius asked, completely brushing past Nova’s question in his excitement.  
“No!” Nova’s face was rapidly turning purple, “I didn’t mean that!”  
“What else could that have meant?” Lucius asked, bewildered  
“I- She’s- argh!” Nova buried her face in her hands. “I just meant she’s really pretty.”  
“You think Aila’s pretty?” Lucius asked, smiling brightly, tilting his head to the side.  
“You don’t?” Nova said incredulously  
“I’ve never really thought about it.” Lucius said contemplatively, “I suppose, if that’s the sort of thing you’re in to.”  
“Yeah, well, you’re only attracted to people covered in feathers.” Nova blustered defensively, crossing her arms.  
His blush reached the tips of his ears, “I’ve been attracted to other people!” Lucius huffed indignantly.  
Nova rolled her eyes, “Name one.”

There was a long pause, and Lucius furrowed his brow.

“That’s irrelevant!” He huffed, “Why didn’t you tell me you wanted to date Aila?”  
“I don’t want to date Aila!” Nova whined, “I just meant that she’s attractive and would probably be a good girlfriend, and-” Nova cut herself off  
“You’re just saying ‘I want to date Aila’ over and over again.” Lucius said.  
“I’ve really put my foot in this.” Nova mumbled, burying her face back into her hands  
“Do you want me to find out if Aila likes you?” Lucius asked eagerly  
“Absolutely not!”  
“Why not?” Lucius asked, pouting, “I would be very subtle!”  
“One, no you absolutely wouldn’t. Two, I don’t want to know because I don’t want to date Aila!” Nova hissed at him.

Lucius gave her a very hurt look and Nova sighed.  
“Listen. Actually listen to me for a minute.” Nova said, “I think Aila is very pretty but that doesn’t mean I want to date her. I mean, she absolutely wouldn’t want to date me, for one. But also I can be attracted to people and not want to kiss them!” Nova went a bit purple, “Not that I think about kissing Aila, because I don't! I have never thought about it and will never think about it! “ She babbled, “Because we’re friends and that would be weird!”  
Lucius nodded very seriously, and Nova breathed a sigh of relief.  
“You don’t want to tell her because you think she doesn’t like you.” Lucius said firmly, with a bright, excited smile.  
“Lucius! Did you listen to a single word I said?” Nova whined  
“Yes! You said you don’t want to date Aila.” Lucius said.  
Nova nodded cautiously, “Yes, thank you.”  
“You don’t want to date Aila.” Lucius repeated with an awkward, over-exaggerated wink. “Wink.”  
“Stop that!” She snapped, face going bright purple again, “I don’t!”

“Nova, I will have you know that I’m an excellent matchmaker and you will be in Aila’s very large arms before you know it!” Lucius announced, standing up with a brisk clap.  
Nova was momentarily distracted by thoughts of Aila’s arms as Lucius opened the door.  
“Wha- Lucius wait!” she whined, having to jog after him to keep up with the captain’s long strides.

* * *

Aila made a frustrated noise and threw the pelt aside. Why was this so difficult?! It had been far too long since she'd actually made anything, and it wasn't coming back to her as easily as she'd hoped. Had all this time on airships and in inns made her soft?  
She sheathed her knife and buried her face in her hands with a heavy sigh. This was ridiculous, why was she getting so torn up about this?

Aila stood up, dropping everything she'd been working on into a pile that would raise Lucius' blood pressure. She needed to get some of this stupid anxious energy out if she was going to get anything done today. She stretched. Her muscles felt far too tense, she should probably just go work out until she felt better.

Aila's ears perked up at the sound of Nova's voice. She opened her door and saw Lucius heading down the corridor, Nova half-running after him to keep up with his long stride.  
"Ah! Aila!" Lucius said brightly, coming to a stop in front of her door. "I wanted to ask you about something."  
Nova caught up to him. "Lucius." she whined, doubling over, "Why do you walk so fast."

Aila raised an eyebrow, leaning against her door. "What do you want, Lucius?"  
Nova looked up, and Aila felt a wave of concern at the panic in her eyes. Nova tugged at Lucius' sleeve insistently, but he didn't seem to notice.  
"Kamarra wanted to know if you'd be up for sparring with some of the wolfpack tonight." Lucius said, seemingly oblivious to Nova's distress.  
"Yeah, sure." Aila said, completely ignoring Lucius to look at Nova. "Is that it?"  
"It should be, yes." Lucius said.  
Nova let out a sigh of relief, and Aila furrowed her brow.  
"Are you okay Nova?"  
"Mmh? Yes! I'm Fine!" Nova babbled nervously, her face turning purple.

Lucius looked between them with an obnoxiously bright smile, "Well, I'll leave you two to it!"  
"To what?" Aila asked, crossing her arms, and Nova giggled nervously.  
"You know," Lucius waved his hand vaguely.  
Aila rolled her eyes. "No one understands what that means Lucius. Absolutely no one."  
"Quill does." Lucius huffed, crossing his arms. "Nova does."  
Nova's eyebrows shot up to her hairline. "I have no idea what that meant."  
"I meant I have captainy things to do but you two could talk, this is very obvious." Lucius said indignantly.  
"How would that be obvious? You just waved your hand!" Nova complained.  
"Why would we need your permission to talk?" Aila asked  
Lucius sighed, "That's not what I meant."  
"I kind of need to check on the engine, I should have been up hours ago." Nova said, looking at Lucius with clear confusion.  
Aila felt a twinge of guilt. Nova had probably stayed up way too late. After her conversation with Fayeth Aila had felt way too awkward to tell her to go to sleep, in case Nova had read it like Fayeth did.

"Oh!" Lucius gasped, his eyes lighting up. "Nova, you should watch Aila spar!" Nova stuttered, but before she could get any words out he continued, "We all should!"  
"Why would you all need to watch?" Aila asked.  
"It's good for morale! Isn't that right Nova?" Lucius said, nudging her.  
Nova stumbled a little, and nodded awkwardly.  
"Watching me beat the shit out of the crew is good for morale?" Aila asked dryly, raising an eyebrow.  
Nova made a strangled noise, and somehow turned an even deeper shade of purple.  
"Are you okay?" Aila asked, trying too hard to mask her concern and coming off very gruff.  
Nova nodded, and tugged nervously at the collar of her turtleneck.  
"I need to, uhm. Engine." she mumbled.  
"I'm not keeping you here." Aila said dryly, feeling her own face starting to turn hot with how weird Nova was acting.  
"Yes, that should be everything. I suppose we'll see you at the sparring Aila!" Lucius said.  
Aila sighed, "I'm already regretting agreeing to this."

* * *

The minute she was alone in the engine room Nova took a moment to make a loud, frustrated noise. She loved Lucius, but he was really overbearing sometimes. She hadn't at all been prepared for that weird conversation with him this morning, and it had made her act really strangely in front of Aila. Nova had worried her, Aila had shown it in her own awkward, stilted way. Nova found herself smiling to herself at the thought of Aila's gruff attempts at concern.

Huh.

Since when did she find that charming? Well. That probably didn't matter. It was just charming. Why would it matter when she started thinking it was charming? The others would probably agree.

Nova looked down at the page she'd been writing on and grumbled under her breath. She'd held her quill in one place for too long whilst she was distracted and a large ink blot was taking up a lot of the page. She fumbled with her little bag of sand as she thought.

This was a weird train of thought, and it was all Lucius' fault. He'd made her thoughts about Aila get all weird again. She wasn't stupid, she knew she found Aila very pretty, but she'd just accepted that as a fact. Then Lucius came along and started putting weird thoughts about dating Aila in her head.  
She knew logically it was nothing to be ashamed of, but being attracted to her friends always made her feel weird. They were firmly off limits in her brain, and Nova had been trying to stamp down on finding Aila attractive for a very long time.  
She was just… Objectively very pretty! It didn't matter if Lucius didn't agree with her, because the alternative was that she had a crush on Aila and that couldn't be true.

Nova cleared up the sand, and put away her notebook.

So maybe she'd had a crush on her when they'd first met, but who wouldn't have? Aila was very pretty and very strong, and Nova was nothing if not predictable. She was pretty sure she'd handled it though, even before the airship crash she'd filed Aila away as unachievable.  
And maybe, just maybe, hypothetically speaking, in the privacy of her own brain, she'd thought about kissing Aila a few times. But that was just passing thoughts. She'd found Lucius pretty when she'd first seen him! It hadn't lasted long after he opened his mouth, but that was irrelevant.

She couldn't get all flustered around Aila or she'd never get anything done, and Aila would absolutely notice and then they'd have to have a really awkward conversation. A conversation where Aila would maybe be polite enough to tell her she was flattered but not interested. But probably not. More likely a conversation where Aila brings it up very gruffly, and tells her to knock it off.  
Nova liked to think she was good with rejection, but even thinking about that made her want to curl up in a ball somewhere.

The idea that Aila might feel the same way didn't even cross her mind. Aila had either ignored or expressed distaste for everyone they'd met who'd expressed any interest in her. And if she hadn't been interested in any of them, why would she be interested in Nova?  
A heavy feeling set over her.

"Knock knock!" Lucius said chipperly as he strode into the engine room.  
Nova looked up, and found herself really struggling to shoot him her usual smile. Lucius' smile faltered as he looked at her.  
"Nova?" he asked softly  
"Mmh?" Nova's voice came out a little choked.  
"Why are you crying?"

Nova reached up to wipe at her cheeks, and her hands came away wet.  
"I don't know." she said.  
Lucius awkwardly wiped at her face with his silk gloved hands. "It's okay Nova."  
Nova blinked, and scrunched her face, batting his hands away. "I'm fine Lucius, I probably had something in my eyes." she scrubbed furiously at her eyes.  
Lucius made a concerned humming sound, "If you say so."

"I know what will make you feel better!" Lucius said, throwing an arm around her shoulder and pulling her in close. "Watching Aila 'beat the shit' out of the wolf pack, as she'd say" Lucius giggled as if he'd said something very naughty.  
Nova groaned. "Lucius…"  
"This isn't wingman Lucius, this is concerned Lucius!" Lucius huffed, "I genuinely think it is very good for morale."  
"Okay, okay." Nova sighed, "We can go watch Aila fight people."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow I did not realise how long this chapter took me until I posted it. I'm trying not to let anxiety hit me about it, because I'm just writing this for fun, but I still feel kinda bad. Next one might be quicker, I sure hope it will be.


End file.
